PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL has surpassed its “cathedral crisis” fund-raising target of £300,000, announced in January.
The Dean and Chapter set the target to meet financial challenges that, they warned, imperilled the cathedral’s immediate future as a seven-day-a-week operation, despite a record-breaking year of events (News, 17 January).
The money came from one thousand individual donations from people from all walks of life, including one anonymous donation described as “very large and generous”, which has taken the appeal beyond its target.
The Dean, the Very Revd Christopher Dalliston, said that groups and institutions also contributed, both from within the city and beyond, and that this had “reaffirmed the cathedral’s role as a cherished landmark and community hub”.
The cathedral, one of the most significant medieval abbeys, is without reserves, and has faced many such challenges in the past, most notably a cash-flow crisis in 2016 (News, 29 July 2016), which opened up the broad debate on the management and governance of cathedrals that eventually led to the Cathedrals Measure in 2021.
Escalating costs prompted the crisis in January. The Dean warned at the time that there was a Iimit to how often the cathedral could make such an appeal to the community, and that the underlying challenge was to build a “properly funded, sustained, and ongoing future. . . We don’t want to have to return to this situation, going forwards.”
The Vice-Dean, Canon Tim Alban Jones, told the Church Times on Monday that he was thrilled with the response. Donors included some individuals who had been choristers at the cathedral, and others who had moved away and still retained a great affection for a building that he described as “amazing”.
But this was only the starting point, he said. “We haven’t got to worry about whether we’re going to be able to pay the gas bill by the end of this month or the end of next month — it buys us a bit of time to try and to make ourselves as sustainable as possible. Cathedrals are expensive buildings to keep going.
“We’ve made many new friends and supporters, and we’ve reconnected with old friends. What we hope to do, as a result of this, is build profitable partnerships with businesses and individuals in the city, and perhaps in the diocese as well, so that as many people as possible will feel a sense of connection and belonging with this wonderful place.”
Fifteen thousand people had queued to see the “Longest Yarn” exhibition — knitted and crocheted scenes of the D-Day landings — which had just finished, leading him to observe, “We have wonderful choirs, and we do all the statutory services. A lot of people in Peterborough are never going to come to choral evensong, but they might come to one of our exhibitions or one of our concerts.
“It’s not quite business as usual. We’re not out of the woods yet. We’ve still got work to do. But it means that we can continue with all the things that are important: our schools work, our mission and ministry. The appeal has generated a lot of publicity locally, and it’s been wonderful to see the affection that people have for the cathedral.”